24 Hours a Day
July 9, 2010
It’s a sad day for me. I’ve finally made the decision to give away my old fish car. Silly to be attached to a piece of old, rusted metal but we’ve been through a lot together. And it’s been a great, trustworthy friend. Through all the sand rutted two tracks hunting grouse and deer and plowing knee deep snow to get back to secret ice fishing puddles, the cruiser has never left me stuck or stranded. It starts every time and lurches past even the heaviest mud holes. We’ve chased birds and big game in most corners of North Dakota and Montana and we’ve watched sunsets in Arizona, Idaho, Utah and nearly every state between here and the Pacific. 270, 000 miles on the old girl. 100,000 we rode together to trout, grouse, and any other critter that walks, crawls, or flies that they’ll sell a license to chase. It’s been a good run. And like dogs, I think you can measure your life by those chapters. Too sentimental. Maybe I can find her a good farm.
I took a few days off to nurse the Hex hangover, but have been back to everyday fishing again. Mornings and evenings have been producing with tricos and olives. Take small flies. The tricos run small . . . I usually fish a 22 but that’s, honestly, too big. 24’s and 26’s probably get more takes, but I wouldn’t know cause I can’t see ‘em. I like when the slate wing olives start toward the end of the morning trico ritual; they’re a nice 16-18. That’s a great hatch and you get to fish them as spinner again at dusk. It’s sorta like sulphur fishing. The tiny olives are out as well—trico sized. I fished that spinner fall last night with a size 18 borchers. They wouldn’t eat it at first. But as it the evening slipped closer to darkness the trout sucked it in. It could be that the veil of darkness led to the trout making mistakes, but I doubt it. Trout don’t make many mistakes . . . at least not as many as I’d like. I think the slate wing spinners probably hit the water and they ate it for that fly.
The cool forecast should get the daytime, terrestrial and rubber bug fishing going strong. And don’t be afraid to pull out your size 12 drake parachutes for daytime prospecting—they eat ‘em and that fly will float a nymph. If it stays in warm, wet wade. I did the other day and it’s not only a great way to cool off, but you’ll find the cool springs that trout gravitate to this time of year.
And, of course, there’s night fishing. Big flies, big bites, big fish—if you’re just a little lucky.
Good fishing,
Andy
